Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is giving our screen time a '50s flair.
Find your varsity jacket, start up your Dodge Wayfarer and venture back to Rydell High for a musical series about "the original girl gang." Much like the Abbi Jacobson-led A League of Their Own reboot, this new series examines a classic story, but adds a fresh perspective.
"Our characters will get to experience from a different lens and how those experiences overlap with others with a marginalized identity," actor Ari Notartomaso said during the show’s TCA panel on January 9, per Deadline. "I think we have the opportunity to represent another struggle that overlaps with things we’re dealing with today, like racism."
Rise of the Pink Ladies pivots from the original Grease film in that it takes place in 1954, four years before the OG, and sets its sight on a different cast of characters.
"I thought, 'Nobody needs a new Grease,'" creator Annabel Oakes told Entertainment Weekly. "The original Grease is absolutely perfect. But then, I thought about it for a second and I thought, 'What unanswered questions do I have from Grease?' Because everything was tied up really nicely with Danny and Sandy. But I was like, 'What was up with the Pink Ladies?"
After a bit of research, Oakes uncovered that the Pink Ladies were in fact a real group, and thus a new project was born—an origin story about the young women. (Who else is ready to add a pink bomber jacket to their capsule wardrobe?)
Look at the 'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies' trailer:
Have a look at the ladies who are taking Rydell High by storm—playing by their own rules and not letting anyone silence them.
"Ladies, you must be careful with whom you associate," Asst. Principal McGee (Jackie Hoffman) warns. "A girl's reputation is all that she has."
Judging from the trailer, her guidance seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
When does 'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies' premiere?
Catch the new series on Paramount+ (subscription options available below) on April 6 in the US and Canada. Those overseas can expect it the following day in the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.
Who's in the 'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies' cast?
Although we're not getting any Sandy or Danny this go-around, there are plenty of new faces to get acquainted with. Here's who's who in the forthcoming prequel:
- Marisa Davila as Jane
- Cheyenne Isabel Wells as Olivia
- Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia
- Tricia Fukuhara as Nancy
- Shanel Bailey as Hazel
- Madison Thompson as Susan
- Johnathan Nieves as Richie
- Jason Schmidt as Buddy
- Maxwell Whittington-Cooper as Wally
- Jackie Hoffman as Asst. Principal McGee
Justin Tranter will do the honors of creating original music for the series, so we can expect a new lineup of favorite tunes come April. Plus, we have a feeling this will go down as one of the most fashionable TV shows of all time. Ready for it to begin? We're definitely thinking pink.
While you wait, watch a few of our favorite nostalgia TV shows until the series premiere!
